


Dance With The Devil

by Salyquin



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Demons, Eventual Smut, Ghosts, M/M, Paranormal Investigators, spooky stuff, this is kinda gay, wink wonk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-03-06 11:03:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18849781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salyquin/pseuds/Salyquin
Summary: Sal leads the paranormal investigation team 'Ghost Nabbers'.They've hunted down ghosts before, debunked a few cases, and even solve mysteries along the way.Of course, they've never hunted down a demon before.Well, a first for everything.





	1. Prolouge

**Author's Note:**

> I should be focusing on my other fic, but this idea has been eating my brain forever.

    Investigating the paranormal was never considered as a “real job” to the other folks Sal met during his adventures. He paid them no mind and continued to take in calls and requests to verify whether someone’s house was haunted or just had a creaky pipe somewhere. It was like taking a vacation everyday, getting to hang out with his technicians Todd and Neil, cameraman Chug, and fellow investigators Ash and Travis. They were a team, the ‘Ghost Nabbers’, posting a few episodes of their expeditions on their YouTube channel if things were interesting. 

 

A bump in the road jolted Sal out of his lazy thoughts. He shot upright in his chair as his mask thumped against the window, earning a huff of laughter from Ash, “Daydreaming again, are we?”

    “Just excited, that’s all. We haven’t had a good road trip in forever,” Sal argued back lightly, looking at Ash who sat in the passenger seat of their van. “You can’t tell me you’re not excited too.”

    “Excited to once again prove to you guys that this job is a load of bullshit and the paranormal doesn’t exist?” She shot back with a playful glare. It was obvious she was only in on the whole act for the pay and travels, otherwise behind the cameras she was a skeptic. Travis grunted softly as he yanked an earbud out of his ear, “Oh my god, guys, can you shut up and stop bickering for a few minutes? I was finally enjoying the quiet.”

    “If you kids keep arguing back there I’m gonna turn this car around,” Chug huffed from the driver’s seat, baseball cap turned backwards as he drove down the freeway, eating fries out of a McDonald’s bag that Ash occasionally stole from.

    “Exactly, if you two wanted to fight you should’ve called dibs on the middle seats before Neil and I did. So, suck it up and keep quiet back there like Travis here,” Todd mumbled, glaring back at the bluenette who slumped in his seat and crossed his arms, pouting playfully behind his mask.

 

    He returned his focus back to the window, watching the country fly past them. He sighed out loud in the now silent van before patting the seat in front of him, “Neil, did you do some research on the town?”

    Neil reached downwards and unzipped his backpack, withdrawing a folder labeled ‘Nockfell, MI’ and passing it back to Sal. With a quiet, “Thank you,” he opened the folder and glanced through the papers.

 

    Nockfell, a small town in the more northern parts of Michigan. His eyes scanned through newspaper headings. ‘KIDS GOING MISSING: KIDNAPPER ON THE LOOSE?’ ‘FIRE OUTBREAK, 27 CASUALTIES AND MORE INJURED’ ‘BELOVED TEACHER KILLED IN CAR WRECK’. Sal fished out a clean map of Nockfell and a red marker, laying the newspapers out on his lap and Travis’.

    The blonde pointed a glare at him, “Dude, I’m not a table.”

    “Just gimme a minute,” Sal mumbled back, underlining a few details from the newspapers and circling points on the map. Nockfell High, the building from the fire, Wendigo Lake, the church, and finally their main destination- Addison Apartments. He capped the marker and tossed it aside, fingers tracing over their “hotspots” to check out at later times for more information. He folded up the newspapers and tucked them back into the folder along with the map before handing it over to Neil to store away. 

    “Who’s the dude that called?” Sal asked, leaning back in his seat and setting his head roll over the headrest. Todd spoke up, “Larry Johnson, 25, local artist who lives in Addison. Apparently some funky stuff has been going on in his kitchen, but also mentioned that the 5th floor looks a bit iffy as well.”

    Sal drummed his fingers along his jeans as he listened, “Did he mentioned what kind of activity was going on?”

    “No, just said something about red eyes. I’m thinking racoons or possums,” Todd snorted, adjusting his glasses. “Anyways, I got to talk to the guy who runs the apartments, Terrance Addison. There’s a room there he’s renting out for cheap, since a murder took place on the same floor.”

Travis nearly choked, “You mean we’re going to stay IN the apartments? Are you nuts? Is this necessary??”

Todd rolled his eyes, “Look, I helped Neil get some details on the town. There actually might be something going on, I think it’s worth the extended stay. Besides, there’s some murders linking back to that place, goes back for years. Maybe we can pick up some hits on the spirit box or something worth our while.”

 

Sal hummed in approval as the crooked worn out sign of ‘Welcome to Nockfell’ passed by his window. He inhaled sharply, “Alright ladies, let’s get ready to check into our new home then. Find some ghosts, hunt down some demons, scare out this so called ‘red eyes’ or whatever. Let’s put this poor town at peace.

 


	2. Whoa, nice mask!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sal goes undercover and talks to Larry Johnson.

Sal stacked the last of his empty boxes in the corner of his room by the door. He spun around in a slow 360, taking in his new living space for whoever knows how long. It was decent, albeit a bit bland and simplistic. He taped a few posters on the walls, some of his favorite movies, bands, and games. Yes, a little less bland now.

Gizmo, his cat who always came along on their trips (though he stayed in the tech tent with Todd and Neil), was already at home on his bed. His claws flexed as he kneaded the pillow, chewing softly on the fabric, fluffy tail curled around his feet.

With a satisfied hum, Sal exited his room. Todd and Neil had the room next to his, Chug and Travis rented out an apartment just a floor below, and Ashley was in her own little paradise on the 2nd floor. Sal slipped on his shoes and walked over to the farthest room where the two lovebirds were staying in.

“Hey, guys, I’m gonna go explore around a bit and- SHIT-”

He quickly shut the door, eyes blinking rapidly to erase what he had witnessed. He was fine with it and everything, but the bluenette wasn’t exactly expecting to be walking into two half-naked men grinding all over each other. He ignored the exclamations of protest from Todd and the embarrassed squeals of Neil from the other side of the door. Without a second thought, Sal did them all a favor and quickly fled the apartment.

 

He had retrieved his key card from Terrance earlier in the day, inserting it into the slot in the elevator and pressing the ‘B’ button. His heart lurched for a moment as the elevator squeaked and rumbled as it descended down the floors, a soft yet obnoxious  _ beep _ going off as the numbers counted down until they hit the basement. Sal inhaled sharply as he stepped out of the elevator and looked down the hall, noticing only one visible room.

_ ‘Must be Larry’s,’ _ Sal thought to himself as he tucked his card in his pocket and strode down to the door. He knocked softly. A deeper voice, rough yet smooth at the same time, replied from the other side.

 

“Yeah?”

Sal cleared his throat, “Hey, uh, Larry? Thought I should come say hi. I just moved into 402,” He started, letting his body relax as he went undercover.

“Oh, hey, come on in. Door’s open,” Larry called out. The bluenette hesitantly reached for the door before opening it and helping himself in. A taller man was seated in front of a large canvas, paint strewn across the floor and staining the protective paper underneath the artist’s area. Larry himself had his hair tied up in a long ponytail, a white apron hung loosely from his shoulders. “Whoa, nice mask!” He complimented with a smile, to which Sal froze.

    “It’s a prosthetic.”

    “Oh shit. Sorry, man,” Larry’s smile dropped to an apologetic expression and Sal released the tension in his body, “It’s cool. I’m used to much worse by now. So I’m glad you like it.” 

He couldn’t help but admire Larry’s curiousness as the brunette approached him, “So… Do you, like, have no face under there? What happened?!”

“I’d rather not talk about that,” Sal replied, both uncomfortable with the topic yet also wanting to get more information out of his new neighbor. Of course, he had to go about it as lowkey as possible. It would seem to obvious he was part of the investigation team, and Sal undoubtedly did not want to drop his cover as just a normal dude with a mask.

Larry nodded respectfully and set his paintbrushes down, “Okay, change of subject. I’m Larry. I live down here,” He introduced himself, wiping some paint off his hand before holding it out. Sal took it and gave it a light shake, “I’m Sal. My friends call me Sally Face. I just moved here, from-” his mind blanked for a moment, “-New Jersey.”

“Sally Face?” Larry 

Sal shrugged, “I guess I didn’t really have any decent friends, to be honest,” He looked off to the side, “so once they started calling me that, I figured if I owned the name then the assholes couldn’t use it against me.”

Larry stared at him with an odd gaze before his expression cracked into a lopsided grin, “You’re a complicated dude, aren’t you, Sal?” He lightly pulled the strings of his apron. “You’re pretty strange.” Sal opened his mouth to protest until Larry continued on, “I like you. We’re gonna get along great.”

The investigator was taken aback, eyes widening in slight surprise. He chuckled softly, “Ha, I bet…” He then rocked back on his heels and blurted out, “Do you know what happened in 403?-”

“SHHH!” Larry shushed him abruptly, lunging over and moving Sal away from the door, “... Not so loud, man.” Sal looked up at Larry with interest, though he tried to cover it up with shock or surprise, “What? What is it?” 

Larry went silent for a moment before he licked his dry lips and murmured quietly, “The killer is still in the building.” The bluenette squinted at the taller man and silently wished he had a notepad to jot things down, “How do you know that?”

“I saw it happen…”

Sal didn’t mean to snort in disbelief, holding his sleeve over the mouth of his mask, “Are you high right now?” Larry only shrugged, disrobing his apron and folding it over a kitchen chair, “I wish I was, man. This was some scary shit.”

“What happened?” Sal pressed on, slowly sitting down on the sofa as Larry gripped the kitchen chair with his hands. He sighed and faced Sal, a spark of uncertainty in his eyes that faded as soon as the other noticed it.

“Okay, so, I was helping Mrs. Sanderson with a clogged toilet. I was just finishing up when I heard him burst in, yelling like a lunatic, “I know what you’ve done! Herman told me everything! You stupid bitch!”” Larry paced across the living room, “She tried to calm him down, but before she could even get even a few words out, he was cutting her throat wide open!” His pacing slowed down slightly until he came to a stop and looked down at Sal, “I was shocked, I couldn’t move, I was frozen by fear, man! Just peeking through the crack in the bathroom door…” He shook his head, “Anyways, it all happened so fast and then he cleaned up quickly and left. I don’t know how, but he didn’t even see me. I haven’t really told anyone yet, but I trust you.”

Sal blinked slowly and nodded, processing the story in his head. He finally looked up at Larry, “Shouldn’t you tell the cops?”

The artist shrugged and sat down on the other side of the sofa, holding his head in his hands, “I actually tried to talk to that detective, but he won’t listen to me without some kind of evidence. Like my word isn’t enough. Hrmph.”

 

Sal found himself standing in front of the caution tape that guarded 403 later that night. He quietly maneuvered around the lap, slowly pushing the door open. There was barely a crime scene, much less anything left by the police. I seemed like a normal, empty room. He was seriously starting to doubt Larry’s story, but alas fished out the circular black spirit box from his pocket. He walked further away from the door to avoid the rather loud box to draw unwanted attention from living neighbors. Sal stood at the other end of the room and turned the box on, “Mrs. Sanderson?” He asked, a hand over the speaker of the box to muffle the noise as he tried to speak clearly, “My name is Sal Fisher, I just want to know if you’re here? Were you murdered?”

    Silence followed.

    “Did somebody kill you?”

    Silence.

    “Mrs. Sanderson?”

    Silence.

    “This is bullshit…” Sal grumbled to himself as he shut the box off, hurriedly walking to leave until the stench of death and blood filled the air. He turned around and saw a glimpse of a woman standing there, blood around the crown of her head and her throat slit wide open. The apparition melted into the floor with a shrill scream in a pile of guts and gore, before the room was once again dark and empty and plain.

  Sal exhaled a shaky breath he wasn’t aware he was holding in. He swallowed hard and left the room. 

 


	3. I Testify

“You saw the ghost of Mrs. Sanderson?” Ash crossed her arms as she ducked under the caution tape of 403, looking at Sal who was already crossing over the living room to where he saw the apparition.

“Ash, I testify.”

Todd nudged his glasses up, “You do know that the word testify comes from the origin of ‘swearing on your testicles’, right?”

Sal glared softly at the red-head who had a bag slung over his shoulder, “Exactly my point, Toddy.”

“Call me Toddy again and I swear to Goddy you’ll be swearing on more than just your balls-”

Ash let out a disgusted groan, “You guys are  _ literally _ children, can you be more mature about this? We’re adults, standing in the same room where a mysterious murder took place. Have some respect.”

Sal pouted under his mask and scuffed his shoe into the carpet underneath him, “Anyways, I saw her here. She just kind of melted into the ground or something. And there was this loud scream, I’ve only ever heard a scream like that once in my life before,” he trailed off.

Neil ducked his head as he unzipped Todd’s back and withdrew a tripod and a thermal camera, along with a back of batteries. He walked off to the corner to set up the equipment as Todd walked over to where Sal was standing.

“Did any lights go off when she appeared? Usually a paranormal entity would release some kind of electrical current when present,” He sniffled, kneeling down and swabbing the carpet before rubbing the Q-tip into a dish. Sal thought for a moment before shaking his head, “I don’t think so, I didn’t have any electronics on me, but none of the lights or anything went off either.”

Todd’s bushy brows furrowed, “Odd. I’ll look more into it. While I’m at it, I’ll test this to see if there were any signs of blood, based on your description. I highly doubt the police managed to get this whole place cleaned up so fast anyways, I didn’t see or hear any professional cleaning teams come in.”

“She’s all ready to go,” Neil called out as he switched the camera on from it’s tripod in the corner of the room, “If we get any hits of a change in temperature, we’ll notify you guys from 402.”

Ash turned around and looked over at the boys, “That suspiciously sounds like you’re sending Sal and I on a mission,” she eyed Sal, who put his hands up in surrender.

“Hey, it’s not like we have anything better to do. We’re on a case, and- according to Larry’s story and what we know about Nockfell- this shit probably goes deeper than just a murder or some demon stuff going on.”

“A murder or some demon stuff already sounds like some troubling stuff, Salio,” Neil chuckled as he began to head out of the room, tugging Todd along with him, “just head up to the 5th floor, if there was a killer in the building they’d probably be hiding in the area no one would go to.”

Ash gasped as sarcasm dripped from her voice, “Thank you so much for sending us to get slaughtered by a killer on the loose! Best plan I’ve heard so far!” She laughed, before smiling at Sal. “Well, let’s hurry up. I want to get this over with so I have enough time to take a relaxing, ghost-free bath later.”

 

Sal’s eyes grazed over the sign posted on the 5th floor for a brief moment before sighing, “I wonder what happened up here. Doesn’t seem like much progress is going on,” he joked lightly, walking to one side of the hall. He reached out and jiggled the knob before giving it a little twist. The bluenette looked to his right to see Ash trying the same on the door of 502. She looked back at the boy and shook her head.

“I seriously doubt any of these doors would be open,” She murmured as she walked past the elevator to try 503. Sal followed quickly to get to 504, “Okay, but even if we can’t get in a room-” he felt the knob turn all the way and he felt a spark of hope shoot through his 5’2 frame, “-Ash. Ash, this one’s open.”

Ashley whipped around in surprise as she lightly jogged over just as Sal pressed the door open. The smell of rotting wood and mold hit their noses before he could hear Ash gasp sharply. Sal stepped further into the room to see a frail old man, curled up on a mat of newspapers, rocking back and forth in paranoia.

Sal swallowed his dread, “Hello? Sorry, I didn’t think anyone lived up here.”

The man stayed silent, hair swooped across his face as he kept rocking steadily.

“Hello? Sir? Are you okay?” Sal tried again, this time taking a few steps forwards the man much to Ash’s dismay. 

“Sal, we need to go-”

“You shouldn’t have come here,” The man spoke, voice raspy and aged.

The investigator came closer, “I’m sorry. I was just trying to get to know our new neighbors and-”

“A dark place,” The man rasped, “this building. Horrible things happen.”

Ash shook her head and turned around on her heel, “I can’t do this, Sal we need to go.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sal reached out towards the man before there was a soft knock. The investigators held their breath as both of their heads spun to look at the door. There was no other sound. No more knocking. No one else walked into the room. 

“I-” Sal started as he turned back to face the man, only to find empty space and a messy pile of newspapers where the man once sat upon. He looked back at Ash with a wide, blue eye. Ash clasped a hand over her mouth in shock, her lithe frame trembling slightly.

“What the…” Sal muttered under his breath, backing up a bit before he faced the door again. Their walkie talkies crackled as Neil’s voice came over from the other end, “Salio, Ash, did you guys find anything?”

Ash shook her head as she ran her hands through her hair, quickly walking out of the room. Sal hesitantly pressed down on his walkie talkie to respond, “Uh, y-yeah, we found something- We’ll explain when we get back to 402.”

As he turned to follow Ash out he caught a glistening out of the corner of his eye. He paused and slowly walked over, squinting at the key that was laying on the ground next to the bathroom. He knelt down and picked it up before looking up at the wooden door.

“I wonder if…” He pressed the key into the lock and held his breath as he heard it click and unlock. Sal pressed the door open and stepped in.

 

“Is anyone in here?” He asked, closing the door behind him, “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you. I’m a friend.”

He barely flinched as the lights flickered violently for a moment before a mass of gore seeped through the floor, the ghost of a little purple haired girl staring at him.

Her voice seemed distant and far, almost like an echoing whisper, “You are?” She asked, causing Sal to smile under his prosthetic.

“Yeah, sure. My name is Sally Face,” He introduced himself, plopping himself down on the dirty bathroom floor, crossing his legs over one another. Meg giggled in response, milky eyes watching him, “Your name is funny. You’re not scared of me, Sally Face?”

“No, of course not,” Sal replied, leaning forward on his arms a bit as he communicated with the ghost girl. His mind raced and pounded against his skull that an actual spirit was talking to him without the help of a communicator- Hell, he was going insane over the fact that the ghost was even holding a form in front of him.

“Okay,” Megan smiled, “that’s good. Why do you have pigtails in your hair? That’s for girls, silly.”

He couldn’t help but to laugh softly, “Ha, who ever said that only girls can wear their hair in pigtaiks? I like pugs too.”

“I never thought of that. You’re funny, boy,” Meg giggled, purple hair flowing over her shoulders.

Sal let a short second of silence hang between them before he asked, “Why were you crying before?”

Megan seemed to pout to herself, “Everyone always runs away from me when I try to talk to them. I get so lonely up here all alone.”

Sal felt a pang of empathy for the little girl, “I can understand that. I get lonely sometimes too. It must be hard being by yourself.”

“Well, I’m not really all alone, there are-” She gasped softly as there was a knock at the door, causing Sal to turn his attention around. He faced back in Megan’s direction, only to see that she was gone like the homeless man had earlier.

He pushed himself up onto his feet, “Hello? Little girl? Are you still there?” He asked before a frown spread over his lips, “Huh…”

 

Sal was surprised to see Chug waiting for him outside of the door. He cocked his head to the side curiously as Chug shuddered, “Chug? What are you doing up here?”

The green haired cameraman forced a laugh, “Asking myself that same question,” he admitted, arms crossed over his chest.

“I thought you were too scared of this room?” Sal questioned, leading the way out of 504 with Chug hot on his heels, eager to get back to living floors.

“I am! But you were gone for so long, I needed to check on you, ya know? Make sure the ghosts didn’t get you.” Sal couldn’t help but to grin at that, placing a hand on Chug’s shoulder, “Thanks, man. I’m okay, nothing got me.”

“Good. Good- Otherwise, what would we do without our main investigator?” Chug chuckled as he stepped into the elevator with Sal, twisting his cap around, “Now let’s get back to base. Ash already told Todd what you guys saw, and from what I heard… You weren’t just talking to yourself in the bathroom, were you?”

Sal shook his head, “Little girl, her name is Megan. I’ve never seen anything like it! I mean, she appeared to me the same way the other ghost lady did, but this time she spoke! I talked to a ghost in the flesh!”

“Or lack thereof,” Chug joked as he pressed the 4th button.

    Sal rolled his eye.

 


	4. The Demon's Treehouse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for updating this short-ass chapter late :( Life hasn't been great.  
> I'll try to get another chapter up but I am overworked at the moment, so no promises.

    His human form bothered him. 

Larry snarled quietly as he scratched at his stubble, glaring at himself in the mirror. His other hand gripped the edge of the sink, long strands of hair falling over his shoulders and framing his face as his brown eyes brightened into a dark crimson.

“That stupid blue boy thought he could play innocent,” Larry murmured to himself, “I’ll devour his soul, along with his friends as soon as they finish their little “investigation”, ha!” 

 

No, being a demon was boring if you couldn’t play with your food for a while. The ghosts in the apartments feared him, the name of the Red Eyed Demon was enough to make any of the undead residents shudder and hide. He was an older being, having doomed the apartments for years on end ever since he had been summoned by the cult long ago. Larry grunted as he backed out of the bathroom, his eyes fading back into a soft, human brown. He felt pathetic acting like he too was terrified of himself- er, the Red Eyed Demon- but it had to be done if he wanted to keep his act up.

“What do you think, Terrance? Think the puny Ghost Nabbers can vanquish me?” He purred, looking over at the short frail man who hunched by the door, peeking out of the mail slot as if hoping someone could save him. The man shook his head and swallowed thickly, “Of course not, those fellows stand n-no chance.”

“Glad to have your support as always, Terrance,” Larry smiled as he dissolved into the air and re-appeared in his apartment down in the basement. He inhaled deeply and turned the radio on just as he heard the soft patter of footsteps near his door. He glanced over briefly as there was a knock, to which he replied with a clear, “S’ unlocked, you can come on in!”

 

_ ‘Well, we meet again, Sally,’  _ Larry thought to himself as the masked man opened the door and stepped in.

“Sup, Lar,” The bluenette greeted, eyes crinkling behind the mask as he smiled, “can I tell you something? I mean- I just- Please don’t think I’m crazy but I think this place is haunted.”

_ ‘No need to act, baby blue, I’m well aware of who you are,’  _ He wanted to reply back, but kept his mouth shut as his expression twisted into one of surprise, “And they called  _ me  _ crazy.”

He continued on, “Y’know, I used to be skeptical about the possibilities of ghosts actually haunting this building, but I think it’s not just ghosts, Sal.”

“What else do you think it is?” The shorter man pressed on. Larry chewed his lip before looking out to a pair of steps in his room

“Well, we’ve known each other for a while now. I have to show you something,” He turned around and grabbed a red jacket from his coat rack, looking back at Sal, “come on.” 

 

    The bluenette followed curiously as they marched up the steps and out the back of the apartments. Sal’s eyes widened, “Whoa! How come you never told me about this?”

“It’s where I go when I need to be alone,” Larry shrugged, “it’s my fortress of solitude.”

“Awesome,” Sal grinned under his mask, following Larry up the ladder and into the treehouse. It seemed well kept and furnished like a room you’d see inside- except for a bed. “This is so cool! I always wanted a tree house when I was younger.”

Larry cracked a smile, “Yeah. My dad built this for me before he…” The man chewed his bottom lip softly, remembering his family from a millennia ago, “disappeared.”

    Sal looked up at this, “Wait, what?” He cocked his head, eyes squinting, “What do you mean, “disappeared”?”

“One day he was here and everything was okay and the next day he was just gone. No note, no nothing. And all of his things were still here,” The brunette fibbed, gesturing around the house, “His clothes, his tools, his wallet, his driver’s license… everything. He just disappeared.”

Sal’s lips fell into a gentle frown, “Damn. I’m so sorry, Larry. I know how hard that is. Did your parents not get along?”

Larry thought back on his supernatural parents, “No, my parents loved each other. They hardly even fought or anything. It isn’t what it sounds like. My dad didn’t leave us. Even if that’s what my mom chose to believe. I know he wouldn’t ever leave us like that. He loved us.”

“I believe you. So what do you think happened?” Sal asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets as a breeze blew through the window.

Larry sighed, “Look. You know I’m not generally superstitious. And I know you swear that the apartments are haunted… but…” He resisted the urge to grin as he went on, “Well, I think it’s something else.”

The other man leaned forward a bit, “Like what?”

“I haven’t told many people about this, but I know I can trust you, Sal. I know you won’t judge me,” He said as he fiddled with his jacket zipper, watching the other man nod. “Of course not.”

He took a deep breath, like an inward sigh, “The day before he disappeared, I did something I’m not too proud of. My parents got some firecrackers and they told me so many times to wait for them. Not to play with them on my own. But I just couldn’t resist, dude. I lit a few out back and one ended up in Mrs. Gibson’s open window. It killed her pet rabbit.”

Sal winced, “Oh, man. That’s rough.”

Larry huffed, “Yeah. So, I ran to check on Mrs. Gibson and she was screaming at me like crazy. As if I needed another reason to piss off that old bag. I felt horrible, though. That poor bunny. Anyway, as I was coming down in the elevator, that’s when I saw the demon.” He smiled for a split second before regaining his composure, “He reached out and touched me. I got this super cold chill down my whole body. I was scared shitless, dude. I thought I was losing my mind. He was gone as quick as he came. Just as the doors opened. He cursed me. Because of what I did, he cursed me. Everything in my life was fucked after that. My dad disappeared. My mom stopped talking for a while. I had to spend two weeks in juvy for accidentally killing that rabbit. My bike got stolen. I missed so much school I had to take summer classes. It’s been one bad thing after the next. Ever since then, horrible things have happened to me or around me.”

Sal stood there speechless as he stared at Larry, wishing he had brought a tape recorder with him. He wet his lips before he spoke, “So you think this curse took your dad away?”

“I know how it sounds but I know it’s true. It’s all my fault. My dad. The Rabbit. Mrs. Sanderson. Everything-”

“Whoa, hold on, man. Even if there is some kind of curse on you, you can’t blame yourself for every bad thing that happens,” Sal placed a hand on Larry’s shoulder and suddenly felt cold, though he assumed it was the chilly air. The taller man gasped softly at the touch, looking down at Sal and straight into his blue eye. He felt a rush in his chest before the smaller man spoke again, “It’s not all your fault. What did this demon look like?”

Larry swallowed the feeling away, waiting until Sal’s hand slipped from his shoulder, “It was nothing I’ve ever seen before,” He said, imagining his own demonic image, “It was like a moving shadow, all black and misty, but had the form of a man. And the eyes were the worst part.” He forced a shudder, “These deep red eyes that pierced right through you.”

Sal seemed a bit dazed just as an idea popped into his head, “Holy shit!” He jumped slightly as he started to climb down the treehouse, “Maybe there are some clues around that could help.” 

Larry frowned as he watched him abandon him in the tree house, though he knew exactly what Sal had in mind.

 

Sal mumbled to himself as he walked into his apartment, putting his hands on the table were Todd, Ash, and Chug were gathered around playing a game of Monopoly, “We can try to find out more about the ghosts. See if we can get to the bottom of this- I have new info we could use, it’s about the demon.”

 


	5. A/N

(This chapter will be deleted upon the next update.)  
It's been a while since I've updated, but lately I've been extremely busy with juggling two jobs and summer homework. I'm trying to find the time to write, but I just can't most of the times.  
I'm not giving up on this fic in any way, I'm just saying that there might be a long wait in between chapters.   
Thank you for all of you who have been reading this story so far <3


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